Reports that Thursday's power outage in New York and parts of Canada was caused by a lightning strike at New York Power Authority's (NYPA) Niagara hydroelectric project in Lewiston were totally erroneous, according to a statement by Eugene W Zeltmann, president and CEO of NYPA.
Zeltmann said the 2400MW Niagara project was not struck by lightning, and, along with the company’s 800MW St Lawrence-Franklin D. Roosevelt plant, it continued to operate throughout the outage.
Shortly after 7pm on 14 August, Zeltmann said the 1040MW Blenheim-Gilboa pumped storage power project in Schoharie County also resumed partial operation.
Power officials are still unsure about the cause of the power outage.